1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for coordinating and initiating a multi-point telephone conference which can be initiated by one of the participants from a remote device such as a wireless communication device. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and system designed for use in setting up and initiating a multi-point telephone conference with assistance from network based software agents capable of accessing, utilizing and downloading information to wireless communication devices from network-based software applications (e.g., calendars, contact lists, email lists etc.).
2. Description of the Related Arts
Webster's Dictionary defines the term meeting as a coming together; a gathering. Meetings play an integral part in our social and organizational interactions. Advances in computer and communications technology have effectively removed geographic barriers that hindered meetings between geographically separated individuals and organizations in the past. The explosion of the Internet and the availability of low cost network-compatible wireless communication devices (e.g., cellular phones, PDAs, two-way pagers, etc.) makes it possible for individuals and organizations to communicate using a variety of media (e.g., voice, email, short message service (SMS), etc.) regardless of the geographic locations of the participants. It is predicted that by the year 2005 there will be one billion wireless communication devices carried on the persons of individuals who will be accessible virtually any place and any time.
Many companies in the late 80's and early 90's began emphasizing horizontal problem solving in corporate planning as opposed to hierarchical decision making which meant more planning done in more meetings and brainstorming sessions comprised of large groups of people. Around this same time corporations and organizations sought methods and systems which would allow remote parties to actively participate in these sessions. In response, telecommunications companies began offering audio teleconferencing services.
In the early 1990's the methodology used for multi-point telephone conference calls was based on public branch exchange (PBX) conference bridges. These systems required trained operators and on-premises dedicated equipment and were cost prohibited for all but the largest companies. The primary problem with PBX conference bridges was that one individual had to be physically at a telephone attached to the PBX for the system to work. Setting up telephone conferences during non-business hours proved to be especially troublesome.
To meet the increasing demand for telephone conference calls, teleconference service bureaus were established which enabled small businesses and individuals to access these services from third party providers for a fee. To use this service, all the contact information for all participants had to be provided to the third party provider hours or days before the scheduled teleconference and the participants had to call in to a predetermined number at a scheduled time. Operators handled participant notification and call setup and these systems provided little flexibility for changing contact information.
Some present day teleconferencing services provide Internet/Intranet based automated conference setup services that facilitate the setup of conference calls with the assistance of web based user interfaces and interactive voice response units. In these systems the user usually requires advanced knowledge of the contact information for the conference participants. For example, a user would generally have to provide an email address or phone number which is used to propose the telephone conference and provide the participants with instructions for joining the conference call.
The ultimate purpose of teleconferencing systems is to facilitate simultaneous communications between a plurality of participants who are geographically separated. As with any meeting, the required participants have to be notified in advance of the time and the topic of interest for a proposed telephone conference meeting. The problem of coordinating and initiating such conference calls is compounded when one or more of the required participants is off-site and has a plurality of associated contact identifiers. For example, it is not uncommon for individuals to have multiple email addresses, a home phone number, a work phone number, a mobile phone number, a SMS contact identifier, etc. This situation is further complicated when the teleconferencing system is required to coordinate a cross-platform telephone conference call with terminal devices (i.e. land based phones, wireless devices, IP phones, etc.) operating on different types of communication networks. Cross-platform telephone conferencing systems and so-called intelligent agents are available but they generally require dedicated server devices and associated software costing tens of thousands of dollars which would make them unappealing to many small businesses and individual users desiring to use this type of service.
What is needed is a method and system which enables users of wireless communication devices to access cross-platform telephone conference services and to functionally interact with the control features of a cross-platform telephone conference server systems from a remote location for the purpose of coordinating and initiating telephone conference meetings.